About Gyandev McCord

Nayaswami Gyandev (Gyandev Rich McCord, Phd) is the worldwide Director of Ananda Yoga and the Ananda Yoga Teacher Training programs at The Expanding Light Yoga & Meditation Retreat. He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University in Applied Mathematics and has taught internationally on the subjects of yoga, meditation and yoga philosophy for over 16 years. He also served as General Manager for Ananda Publications and Dawn Publications for three years and as a Management Consultant for four years in the Silicon Valley.

Nayaswami Gyandev has served on the Board of Directors of the Yoga Alliance, the group of yoga schools and traditions which has recently developed comprehensive standards for yoga teachers in the United States. He is also an accomplished storyteller, focusing on epic dramas from mystic traditions.

Nayaswami Gyandev's philosophy about yoga practice is that, "It should give valuable benefits on many levels - physical, mental, emotional - and that its highest purpose is to tune practitioners into their own body's subtle energy flows. This allows a practitioner to experience the full spiritual dimension of each posture, thus expanding the benefits of yoga beyond the body, into the mind and soul."